Montreal food scene's tastemakers

Lesley Chesterman, Special to THE GAZETTE12.30.2013

Food truck operators returned to the city’s streets after a 66-year ban on street food, with 27 trucks rotating between nine spots throughout the city. Co-owners Gabrielle Rivard-Hiller and Phillippe Picard-Labelle show off their Pied de cochon food truck in Mirabel in June.Justin Tang
/ The Gazette

Anthony Zammitis is seen with Dic Ann’s truck. The Quebec street food association is already planning its first Friday food truck gathering for 2014, at the Olympic Stadium on May 2.Marie-France Coallier
/ The Gazette

At Boucherie Le Marchand du Bourg, Marc Bourg runs a steak-o-thèque of sorts, where the specialty is dry-aged Quebec beef. His meat is aged between 40 and 350 days.John Kenney
/ The Gazette

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The fact that kale was considered the “hot” ingredient for many foodies this year is a bit of a lark. I mean, really, that statement is an insult to Brussels sprouts, and I have seen more sea urchin than kale on my plate recently. The idea of an ingredient or food item (hello, cronut!) playing such a pivotal role on the food stage is silly because what really matters are the people selecting that kale and inventing that cronut who are shaping how and what we eat. The artisans who age the meat, slash the baguettes, pull the sugar, blind-taste the wines and gingerly remove the honey from the hive are the ones who are making the food world so endlessly fascinating.

Here are some of the people who are shaping Montreal’s food landscape, and how what they are doing will affect what’s to come.

Montreal felt a little different this summer with these funkalicious trucks serving everything from tacos to poutine to designer pogos on the Mountain, in Place du Canada, by the Lachine Canal etc. Some consumers complained prices were too high, and despite the city’s request for healthy fare, a lot of the food was pulled-pork/mayo-laden rich and heavy. But this was year one, so let’s cut them some slack. And it can’t have been easy holding down the fort in rainy weather or on those cold fall days, after the city extended the permits to Nov. 3. Though they didn’t always have food by closing time, these kids sure had courage.

What’s ahead? Though still under the banner of pilot project in 2014, the outlook is positive. More news from city hall to come in January. The Quebec street food association is already planning its first Friday food truck gathering at the Olympic Stadium on May 2.

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The Extremist, Marc Bourg: From his boutique-sized shop, Boucherie le Marchand du Bourg, Marc Bourg runs a steak-o-thèque of sorts, where the specialty is dry-aged Quebec beef. His is not the common, two- to three-week-aged steak, but meat that has aged from 40 to 120 to 180 to 350 days. Meat aged one year? Yes!

Dry-aged beef is all the rage these days, and when you stand in front of Bourg and watch him in action butchering an aged side of beef, you see why: It’s all about flavour. As beef ages, the moisture evaporates, which means its weight diminishes. And as the meat literally rots from the outside, the aged side of beef develops a thick crust, and even a layer of mould, all of which is removed by Bourg’s skilled hands.

What’s left is the innermost part of the carcass, and the older the meat, the more concentrated the flavour. Bourg’s beef is expensive, but an absolutely unique product with flavour undertones of Gorgonzola, prosciutto and foie gras. And, boy, is it tender! Once you’ve tasted Bourg’s beef, it’s hard to go back.

What’s ahead? Expect to see dry-aged beef showing up on restaurant menus like Moishes and in an increasing number of high-end butcher shops. Forty-day, dry-aged beef is already on sale at my local Metro store. Meanwhile, Bourg is experimenting with steaks aged up to two years. Whoa.

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The Artists, the new pâtissiers: The pastry scene was looking bleak in Montreal thanks to the overwhelming number of chain bakeries setting up in all the choice neighbourhoods. But then came Stéphanie Labelle of Pâtisserie Rhubarbe on the Plateau to give hope to those of us who like fancy pastries made fresh and on a small scale.

Maison Christian Faure opened during the summer, setting the Montreal pastry bar even higher. Chef Christian Faure’s flavour combinations are interesting, his technique is beyond reproach, and his floor staff could not be more accommodating. What constitutes an exciting pastry for Faure? “Today, everything is done à la minute,” he said. “No freezing. The life expectancy of a cake is 20 minutes. We’re coming back to authenticity. Pastries must be fresh, and it’s a challenge every day to do that.” Absolument!

What’s ahead? Pastry lovers are eagerly anticipating the return of local star pastry chef Patrice Demers (formerly of Les 400 Coups), who will be opening a pastry shop and a school on Notre-Dame St. near Atwater Market. The more gourmet pâtisseries, the better!

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The Great New Shop, Boucherie Lawrence: One of the best additions to this year’s food scene, Boucherie Lawrence opened in Mile End in June, and the hipster foodinistas quickly descended. Brought to us by the same team behind the wonderful Lawrence restaurant led by Sefi Amir, Ethan Wills, Annika Krausz and chef Marc Cohen, this butcher shop has turned out to be a great side dish to the restaurant, which shares the same simple-but-top-quality food esthetic.

The homemade sausages, terrines, rillettes, saucissons and salami are a treat, and the chicken, pork and beef all hail from local producers.

What’s ahead? Look to see more restaurants opening butcher shops in 2014, including one famous for its meat and another famous for its love of local produce.

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The Designer, Zébulon Perron: As ambience takes on increasingly important roles in restaurants, décor, an aspect that seemed to have fallen by the wayside of late, is becoming key. Zébulon Perron is the name behind the design of red-hot restaurants like Grinder, Furco and Impasto. He has even designed the new bare-bones Hof Kelsten bakery. His designs are sleek, minimalist and just a little bit kooky.

“The line between the bar experience and the restaurant experience is blurring,” says the much-sought-after Perron, who is a partner in several of the restaurants he has designed.

What’s ahead? The Furco team will be launching a new restaurant next door designed by Perron, which is slated to open at the end of January. The designer has several other restaurant projects underway as well.

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The Visionaries, Société Orignal: When the dynamic duo of Alex Cruz and Cyril Gonzales began their company in 2011 with a handful of Québécois ingredients like sunflower oil, maple syrup, organic honey, vinegar and herbal tea, their goal was to offer the best and most unique ingredients to chefs from Quebec and abroad.

Today, a mere two years later, Société Orignal’s business is booming and their product range has grown to more than 20 dry goods. Not only will you find their products in our best local restaurants, but also in several of New York’s top tables including Daniel and Eleven Madison Park. Their sales list now includes fresh vegetables, fish, seafood and dairy products like fresh-churned butter and whole milk that you will find in your latte in third-wave coffee shops like Myriade and Le Couteau/The Knife.

What’s ahead? Cruz and Gonzales will be opening an additional outpost of their company in Sept-Îles this winter to help procure and distribute the freshest Quebec fish and seafood to their customers.

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The Crusty Bunch, our best boulangers: If ever you get depressed peering down at that pallid, soft-crusted supermarket baguette, fear not, there are plenty of excellent bakers on the scene, including the likes of La Petite Boulangerie, Joe la Croute, Boulangerie Guillaume, le Pain dans les Voiles, Bête à Pain, Mamie Clafoutis and more that topped my best baguettes hunt I held with James MacGuire last spring.

Despite the occasional crummy baguette, the state of Montreal bread is strong — though you might have to drive a bit to find the best. Word of advice: stock up, freeze them and reheat in a hot oven. Ideal? No. Practical? Yes!

What’s ahead? Baker Jeffrey Finklestein, who formerly was baking solely for restaurants like Leméac and Joe Beef, opened his new bakery, Hof Kelsten, in October and is adding new varieties almost daily (chocolate babka, anyone?). Boulangerie Guillaume is moving to larger (yet still artisanal-sized) premises at 5132 St-Laurent Blvd. as of mid-January.

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The Whirlwind Chef, Danny St-Pierre: There are plenty of great chefs on the Quebec scene, but none busier this year than Danny St-Pierre. Based in Sherbrooke, where his restaurant, Auguste, is going gangbusters, St-Pierre also does weekly gigs on Ici Radio-Canada première radio shows C’est pas trop tôt! and Médium large, and this year he launched his cooking show Qu’est-ce qu’on mange pour souper? (5 p.m. daily on Radio-Canada). He also wrote a cookbook, Dans la cuisine de Danny St-Pierre (Les Éditions La Presse, 2013), and when nobody was looking he won the Montreal division of the national cooking competition Gold Medal Plates.

What’s ahead? In February, St-Pierre heads to Kelowna, B.C., to compete in the final of the Gold Medal Plates competition. Two Quebecers, Martin Juneau and Mathieu Cloutier, have won the competition in the past. Could St-Pierre be the third?

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The Super Swirler, Sniffer and Sipper, Véronique Rivest: How exciting to see this Gatineau-based sommelière nab second spot in the World’s Best Sommelier competition in Tokyo last March after more than a decade of training.

Since then, Rivest has not run to Vegas to pick up a lucrative post in some glitzy restaurant or to Europe to take over the cave in some Michelin-starred palace. Instead, she has been hosting prestigious food and wine events around Quebec, surrounded by her many admirers.

What’s ahead? Rivest is working on opening a wine bar in Vieux-Hull in early 2014. Her long-term plan is to open several. Fun!

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The Foodie Neighbour, Vermont: I had heard rumblings about the Vermont food scene perking up for a while now, but only this year did I head down Interstates 87 and 89 to see for myself.

At Hen of the Wood restaurant in Waterbury, just a few miles away from the Ben & Jerry’s factory, I had a stupendous meal that followed Vermont’s renowned farm-to-table food philosophy to a T. Down the road at Prohibition Pig, I not only enjoyed a fantastic burger but a fabulous faro salad and a lineup of some of the best craft beers this usual beer-hater has ever imbibed.

On a return visit, I soaked up the scene at the glass-blowing shop and centre of Simon Pearce, where you can dine at their wonderful restaurant, where every glass you sip from is made on site.

In Montpellier, I had more craft beer at the Three Penny Tap Room and a great organic brunch at Kismet. I even stood in line for two hours in the hot July sun to pick up a few bottles of my favourite craft beer from Hill Farmstead Brewery in Greensboro, which has been rated one of the top five microbreweries in the world by ratebeer.com. I’ll be back!

What’s ahead? Hen of the Wood recently opened a second restaurant (of the same name) in the new and very swank Hotel Vermont in Burlington. Hill Farmstead Brewery, in operation for just four years, will be expanding in 2014, which means that long wait for great beer is bound to get a little less trying.

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Join me at Lustucru on Parc Ave.: This year at the Montréal en lumière festival, our very own Montreal is the featured city.

For the 15th-anniversary edition, chefs and restaurant owners were asked to invite a Montreal personality to their restaurants to collaborate on a meal. The brave young chefs from Bistro Lustucru on Parc Ave. have invited me to come on board to present a “death-row dinner” of sorts made up of my favourite dishes.

Who could resist? — especially as I so enjoyed the cuisine at this cool bistro when I reviewed it three years ago.

The menu is still in the development stages, though I can guarantee there will be lemon tart for dessert.

The dates are Feb. 26 and 27, and the menu will be $65 or $120 with wine pairings (before tax and tip).

To dine with us at what is sure to be a delicious dinner, call 514-439-6701.

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